Representatives from seven states have announced a coordinated legislative offensive to limit the Trump administration’s plans
On Thursday, Democratic representatives from at least seven states — California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — pledged to oppose the Trump administration’s mass deportations by resorting, within the next year, to coordinated legislation to supplement the legal actions already initiated by attorneys general to challenge immigration policies.
The commitment to protect immigrant gathering places, prohibit agents from going undercover, and counter other federal law enforcement tactics comes as Democrats aim to politically attack the federal administration on issues related to the rule of law, such as violations of constitutional protections.
The legislative push reinforces what a bloc of about 20 attorneys general has done over the past year through lawsuits to challenge government policies, such as stratospheric fees for H1B visas, the blocking of counterterrorism funds, and the firing of federal employees.
“It’s never been more important in our lifetimes that like-minded state legislators, like those here, work together to share ideas and strategies,” said State Senator Mike Weissman of Colorado. “States are not just laboratories of democracy, as Justice Louis Brandeis famously said. They are also laboratories where remedies are being developed to protect our country from the disease of authoritarianism that is spreading out from Washington, D.C.”.
“Instead of useless P.R. stunts that cater to Resistance Liberals, these Democrat lawmakers should spend their time supporting policies that will actually benefit their American constituents,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson reiterated.
Individual Democratic states, meanwhile, have already begun to take the first steps in an attempt to stop the deportations so dear to the federal government. This year, some state legislatures passed a law prohibiting agreements that delegate certain federal immigration powers to state and municipal law enforcement agencies. Several states have also proposed banning masked or unidentified police officers from entering their states.
New York State Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who represents Manhattan’s Upper West Side, said he co-sponsored a bill to declare certain places, such as schools, places of worship, and nonprofit offices, off-limits to federal agents attempting to make arrests without a warrant. This way, he said, “our neighbors can function freely in our communities and deal with the basic needs of life, and do so not in the shadows.” A similar law was enacted this month in Illinois.
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